The Olympian Guillotine
by sprwholock44
Summary: In late 18th century France, the Olympians have become too powerful and it is time for someone to step up and deliver justice. Sebastian, son of Hades decides to deliver this justice and join the minor gods' assassin order. But when it comes time for betrayal, will Sebastian risk his new family in order to put the Olympians through the Guillotine? AN: Re-published from Crossover
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Finding the Assassins

 _"La mère de la révolution et de la criminalité est la pauvreté"*_

This was said by a son of Athena hundreds of years ago. It drives me to remember my purpose here. My destiny, if you will. It is all about revolution, the force that drives us forward to a better future. I have seen my fair share of crime and poverty. The surface world is infested with death and mourning. The gods have gone too far, they have exceeded their power and have become tyrannical towards those that are too weak to help themselves. There must be an end to this madness. In a way, I am the beginning of this end. Who am I, you may ask?

I am Sebastian, son of Hades, and the one who will put Olympus through the guillotine to serve justice and to preserve sanity.

"You wished to see me father?" I asked as I entered the throne room of the lord of the underworld. I grew up in this scorching domain and have been training my whole life for one purpose and one purpose alone.

"It is time Sebastian," my father said simply as he stared at the hellfire blazing in the corner of the throne room. Clearly I inherited my tendency to brood from him because he was now contemplating something of importance as he stared deeply into the fireplace.

"I understand, sir. If I may ask, what makes this the opportune time?" I was curious as to father's change in plans. I had been training for the past eighteen years in anticipation of the right moment, but I was not expecting it to happen this soon.

"The country which Olympus has chosen to stay in is ripe with strife and bereavement. The minor gods are sick and tired of being treated like cattle, and the Olympians are living in luxury while all over the French countryside, the people starve. The commoners are almost at their wits end, and the northern wind gods are so upset that they have made this the coldest era in centuries. The air is rank with the aroma of rebellion. It is time for… _revolution."_ Hades seemed to relish in the word as one might appreciate a fine wine.

"What must I do then, my lord?" I said with a hint of respect. I still had my black haired head turned towards the floor, but my glacial blue eyes were gleaming with anticipation. Hades then turned away from the fireplace to face me.

"You must do what every demigod seeking revolution would do… find the assassins."

 _Two months later, 1777 in Bourges, France_

 _Third Person POV_

The moon had just started to rise over the town of Bourges. This small, poor town was infested with poverty, and the governor of the village refused to do anything. This governor had just left town in his carriage and was headed toward his estate outside the city. Governor Jacques Cujas was a pompous man who thought he was too intelligent to concern himself with those who were intellectually inferior. He didn't even bother to look outside his carriage window as he passed through the land that he was supposed to be in charge of. If he had looked outside, he may have noticed a slight figure dashing across the tree line, trying to keep up with the horses. He moved with such grace, that he looked like a shadow flitting through the night.

The carriage finally made it back to the Cujas Estate and pulled through the courtyard and dropped the governor off at his estate's doors. Jacques Cujas was engrossed in his personal thoughts and was recalling bits of his journey through the town on Bourges. He snorted in disgust as he remembered the repulsive events on his somewhat pleasant journey. A tattered young boy had thrown himself against the side of one of his horses and tried to beg the governor for food. Jacques had then ordered his coachman to get rid of the filth and the boy had been whipped to the ground. Because of the way the boy fell, he landed right beneath the carriage and was immediately crushed beneath the wheels. The governor hadn't even stopped to hear the breaking of the boy's body or the wails of some grimy woman behind him. He was feeling regretful that his servants would have to clean up the mess later. The wheels may even have to be replaced because of the stains. The governor sneered in derision, such a waste of carefully crafted carriage wheels.

As Governor Jacques Cujas entered his house, he turned to one of his bodyguards and said,

"Tell my wife that I will be working in my study late tonight and she shouldn't wait for me." The guard then saluted to the governor in understanding.

" _Oui, monsieur_."

The governor then turned towards his study, oblivious to a figure hiding in the shadows, following him. Jacques entered his elaborate study and stood by his personal desk. This study is not what a traditional study would look like. It was more of a large library that happened to have a desk in it. There were legal papers and record books strewn all across the desk and law manuals stacked in a corner. Every piece of material was obviously old, but it was taken care of meticulously. Jacques then sat down in his high backed leather chair and used his lantern to light a solitary candle that cast eerie shadows across the walls. It was not enough light to reveal the entire room, only enough for one to examine a document closely.

Jacques then lifted his small spectacles to his pudgy face and commenced examining a report. His studies were interrupted by an unforeseen knife quickly pressed against his neck. Jacques was paralyzed in fear; his usually agile mind was crippled in terror, for he was not a man of action and preferred to order lesser men to fight for him.

" _Don't turn around if you value your life,"_ hissed an obviously male voice. Jacques could tell it was most likely an adolescent by the tone of his voice. This fact confused him because he had no idea how an unskilled, young man could sneak around his estate and catch him unawares.

"N-now don't be rash! I have money in my safe! I can show you wher-"

" _Don't turn around I said! The only reason why your despicable hide is still alive is not because of your money, I need information,"_ the young man whispered.

"I'll tell you anything you want!" the governor spluttered out in fear.

 _"I know you Templar demigods are planning something. Tell me where the plans are and I may let you live,"_ The governor seemed to doubt the truth in the young man's words, but his qualms were silenced when the intruder pressed the knife deeper into the governor's skin, causing a trickle of blood to run down his neck.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! Just let me reach on to my desk and retrieve them!" The governor shouted in desperation. The intruder grunted his assent to the governors proposed action. As the governor reached toward his desk, he suddenly jammed his hand on a bell that was clearly an alarm. Before the young man had time to react, Governor Jacque's personal demigod bodyguards burst through the doors and surrounded the intruder.

"Ha ha ha! Young assassin, did you really think I had no precautions set in place against such fools like yourself?" the governor laughed. His lark was less gleeful and more of a vindictive, sordid pleasure. He then lifted the hood off of his intruder to reveal a young man with blonde hair and gold eyes that were identical to the color of his hair. He was obviously a demigod, but his coloring was uncommon among sons and daughters of major gods. This young man was also clearly alone in his endeavors and the governor's stormy gray eyes gleamed with excitement at a new victim for him to belittle with his son of Athena intelligence.

"You came in here against a dozen highly trained demigod guards, with no real plan, and no one to save you now!"

 _"…That is not entirely true…"_ rasped out a deep voice that seemed to radiate from the very essence of the shadows.

Then suddenly, the candle was put out with a whoosh and everyone was swallowed in darkness.

 _One hour before_

 _Sebastian's POV_

It had taken me two whole months to find even a whisper of the assassins. I knew that they had been started by Nemesis, the goddess of revenge and balance, hundreds of years ago, but that was not much to go off of. I also knew that the order of assassins had the purpose to protect the people and the minor gods from tyranny. I had tracked down rumors all across the country, in search of any evidence that my father hadn't sent me on a fruitless endeavor.

I finally heard gossip in Bourges that a mysterious hooded man had been seen in a tavern. The servant girl who had seen the assassin had been fairly pretty and when I had found her, she practically threw herself at me and told me everything she knew. I was not used to such treatment.

I had heard that the assassin was staying in the inn in the middle of Bourges and I had set up watch across the street to see when he left for the night's activities. It was not until just after sundown that the young assassin left the inn.

I followed him for quite a while until I saw a commotion on the outskirts of town. The assassin obviously heard it too, for he turned to see what the matter was. When we turned around the street, we could see a woman holding a young boy in her arms and wailing into the night calling,

" _Vous misérable sans cœur! Vous devrez payer pour la mort de mon fils précieux! Mon bébé! Non!"*_

This young boy was evidently her child. I felt the boy's soul leave his body while being clutched in his mother's arms. I was greatly saddened at the unnecessary loss of life. I then noticed that there were bloody carriage tracks leading away from the crumpled boy. Someone had run over this child and had left him to die. I felt a wave of rage course through me and saw the shadows around me pulse with my absolute anger. The one responsible for this would die… slowly. I would also ensure that his soul was sent to the fields of punishment in my father's domain.

I then noticed that the young assassin's fists were also clenched in fury. He then picked up speed and followed the bloody tracks up the road leading away from the city. I followed him, keeping to the shadows. I kept up easily and stayed concealed in the darkness of the night.

When we reached the final destination of the carriage, I watched as a fat man dressed in finery step out into the courtyard. He reminded me of a dressed up pig, but his steely gray eyes revealed malicious intelligence. So this was the man who was the target of the assassin and now my target as well.

I melted into the shadows completely. There was only a crescent moon out, so there wasn't enough light for the guards to see me. I counted how many guards there were, and there appeared to be around a dozen of them. I noticed the aura of slight power coming from their souls, and I knew that they were demigods. I was especially careful sneaking around them, but because of my affinity for darkness, I easily went undetected.

I followed the assassin as he entered into a room off of one of the ornate corridors. It apparently was a study, but it was more like a library. Thankfully, it was a large room and was heavily shadowed, so it was easy for me to hide. I watched with fascination as the assassin sneaked behind the governor while he was engrossed in whatever document he was examining. The young man next took out a knife and held it against the fat man's throat. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I heard snippets of words such as: _"Don't turn around… Despicable hide… Templar demigods… plans…"_ and such. I was confused by what I heard and I was looking forward to finding out in the future.

The fat man then suddenly reached out and hit an alarm bell. I could not believe that the assassin had been so foolish. Even I, who was not an _officially_ trained killer, could tell that that was an alarm of some sort. I sighed in disappointment as the dozen demigod guards rushed into the study. I heard the man laugh and ridicule the young assassin. He then flipped back the man's hood revealing a peculiar boy.

I knew that the assassins were made up of the sons and daughters of minor gods, but I had never seen such unique coloration on a human before. He had light tan skin with a heavy set jaw. He was shorter than me, but obviously more muscular. His most striking feature was his determined gold eyes. In those eyes you could see a resolve to win at any cost. His hair, to my astonishment, was the same color as his eyes and was long but came only to just below his ears.

I then turned away from my calculative study of this man and heard the fat son of Athena say,

"You came in here against a dozen highly trained demigod guards, with no real plan, and no one to save you now!"

I inwardly laughed at this statement and decided that this was the perfect opening for me to reveal myself. I then used a unique way of shadow projecting my voice through every corner of darkness in the room. It was meant to send fear into those that heard it and break my adversaries' resolve.

 _"…That is not entirely true…"_

I then sent in a wind and plunged the room into darkness. The guards stumbled around blindly because they could not see, but I could. I sprinted toward the first pair of demigods and cut them down with my black hidden blades.

I was trained to know exactly how to kill a man as painlessly or painfully as I desired. These demigods didn't deserve this fate, but because of me being the son of Hades, I could feel their deaths and it was supposed to be by my hand. I grabbed them by their necks and severed their spinal cords just beneath the skull, giving them one of the most painless deaths I could manage. I then whirled around and took out four other guards in a similar manner. I went to take out another guard, but to my surprise, I was blocked. I closely examined the guard and realized the man had red eyes. Great, a son of Ares who has the blessing of fighting, even in the dark.

The guard drew his sword and whipped it across my chest so fast that I barely had time to react. I leaned back to avoid the sword, but he was too fast. The sword caught on the material of my cloak and tore it through. Luckily it didn't touch skin, but that move was too close for comfort. I then faced the body guard with a steely sense of determination. I was going to give him a painless death, but his retaliation robbed himself of such a luxury. I decided to match his weapon by drawing my own swords.

The guard squinted at me and charged. He was clearly trying to get me to block his simple downward strike so he could pull back at the last second and strike at my exposed midsection. His plan would have worked, had I been an ordinary swordsman. Unfortunately for him, I was far from ordinary. Instead of meeting his blow, I simply used his momentum against him and allowed him to fall forward as I twisted to the side. Before he could recover, I flicked my wrist against the side of my opponent's blade causing his sword to fall to the floor. Instead of yielding or giving up, the body guard, in typical Ares fashion, attempted to punch the left side of my face. Once again, I noticed that he was merely brute force with little control. In order to beat him, I only needed to retaliate with controlled motions. As his punch neared my face, I twisted to the side, grabbed his wrist with one of my hands and snapped it to the side in a quick motion. Because of the man's already present momentum, all I needed to do was twist slightly and his wrist snapped like a twig. The bodyguard screamed in pain and fell to his knees in agony. I snorted at his pain. He thinks this is suffering? I then decided to give him a semi-painless death. Because his head was already at waist height, I just grabbed his head and quickly snapped it to the side, killing him almost instantly.

The duel had only lasted minutes, but to my cool and calculating mind, it lasted hours. I looked up to engage in the rest of my adversaries, only to find the assassin taking them out one by one. He wasn't nearly as fast as I had been, but it seemed that any fight that he actively engaged in, he could not lose. There were only two guards left and the assassin had yet to actively engage in either. The guards were darting around trying to avoid the blundering young man and get in quick cuts when they could. These two were probably sons of Hermes because they were incredibly light on their feet. The assassin was getting exhausted, so I jumped in to help him fight.

We moved in perfect synchrony, like a deadly dance. We stood, back to back, exchanging blows with the guards like we had been doing it our whole lives. I didn't need to warn him to duck when I did a sweeping blow around his left side in order to block a cheap shot from one of the guards. He simply bent like the wind was moving him, and I saved his skin. He then threw one of his knives at the guard's blade, disarming him. I quickly darted to him and slashed his throat open unceremoniously, leaving him to drown in his own blood. I quickly turned around to throw my own knife at the hand of the last guard, pinning him to the wall. The assassin used his hidden blade to stab the lone guard in the gut, ending the fight. We both stared at each other panting, golden eyes meeting icy blue. He then nodded towards the desk in the corner where we could hear sniveling and shaking coming from beneath it. I made a noise of disgust at such a despicable man who hid and let his men fall one by one.

I threw the desk to the side, causing all of his precious papers to crash to the floor. The fat man whimpered at the sight of his prized documents being dumped on the ground. I grabbed the pathetic creature by his collar and hauled him up into the air.

"Do you know what you have done? I don't know why this assassin cares so much about you, but I bet it is more than just the little boy that you killed today," I sneered at him. I hate bullies like this and was looking forward to seeing him pay for his sins.

"Do you see this knife?" I asked him as I held out my stygian iron blade for him to see. He nodded mutely at me.

"Do you know what it does?" before he could answer, I grabbed his wrist and made a small incision just within his forearm. Even though it was a small shallow cut, he screamed out in tortured agony.

"This is a special knife. It has the ability to draw the soul out of the body, sending straight to hell if it is a fatal blow. If it is even a tiny cut, well you know, it just feels like _hell."_ I hissed out the last word and made another small cut closer to his face causing him to cry in anguish.

"I could do this all night if I wanted to. I know exactly what to avoid in order to keep you alive as long as I wish." I said with a note of pleasure. Being the son of Hades gave me a certain level of enjoyment at giving pain to those who deserve it.

"Now as much fun as that would be for me, I really want to wrap this up eventually. I would greatly appreciate it if you answered any question my friend may ask you. If you do this, then I will let you die," I said coldly. I knew from the sniveling man's face that my eyes reflected the merciless meaning behind my words.

I turned away from the husk of a man that had collapsed on the floor after I had released my hold on him. When my eyes met the assassin's I could only see a mixture of admiration and horror. He then wiped his expression blank and approached the man on the floor.

"…Now Governor Cujas, about the questions I was asking earlier…"

 _Fifteen minutes later_

 _Sebastian's POV_

When the assassin was done questioning the governor, he stood up and turned towards me.

"Well, I think that is all I will be able to get out of him," he said with an air of disappointment.

"Can I kill him now?" I asked, eager to wipe this swine off the face of the surface world.

"Yes, I suppose you can... what do you plan on doing to him?"

"Something special just for him…" I said carefully. I then focused my powers over the dead and found one soul that I was looking for in particular. I allowed the soul to rise from the underworld right in front of the broken governor.

It was the ghost of a young boy. He was barely clothed and had a sallow look in his face. In life, this ghost had undoubtedly been too starved for his age. He then turned to face the governor and said,

"You. You killed me. Did you even stop to look back? I and the rest of the people of this town have suffered so much at your hand. Why, why did you do this to me? To us? Why? WHY?!" The boy screamed at the governor.

"I DON'T KNOW!" the governor shouted back at the boy. He then turned away from the boy and continued to whimper,

"I don't know. I don't know… I don't know." He started to whimper uncontrollably. I looked at his soul only to see that it had been pushed past insanity. I had originally wanted to kill this man, but I felt that letting him live was an even worst punishment than anything my father could invent in his pits. I turned away from the shell that had once been a man and left the study.

The assassin followed me out into the corridor, a look of confusion on his face.

"I thought you wanted to kill him?"

"I realized that death would be too kind to him," I explained with a shrug. The young man nodded in understanding. He then seemed to think for a while then another look of confusion crossed his face and I knew that he had a few questions for me. Oh… joy.

"Thanks for saving me back there and everything but who are you?"

I paused to consider what to say to this young man. My father had instructed me to go undercover because the assassins would not trust a son of one of the major gods. Hades was truly devious in his plans. I hoped this particular assassin didn't get hurt in the cross fire that I will inevitably create.

"My name is Sebastian. I am the son of… Thanatos, the god of death. I was sent here to help you win this rebellion," I lied easily. I knew that I was a perfect liar and could even fool Apollo, the god of truth. The young man readily accepted the lie as truth. This boy was almost too naïve for his own good.

"Alright well thank you for your help, I'm sure my father would love to meet you," he said eagerly.

"Your father? And he is…?" I asked in confusion.

"Oh yes sorry. My father is the assassin grandmaster, Gerard Moreau. My name is Gabriel, son of Nike, the goddess of victory," Gabriel said with a friendly smile toward me. I returned the gesture but my grin was for a completely different reason. I had found the assassins at last.

 ** _Hello there! I forgot to mention at the top that I do not own Assassins creed or Percy Jackson. I hope you like this story! Obviously I am not a history major so I apologize for any historical inaccuracies. I try my best to stay within the truth, but I do mess up sometimes. Well in case you were wondering, here are the translations of the French in the chapter (once again I am not a professional French speaker so pardon any errors I make)_**

 ** _*The mother of revolution is crime and poverty*_**

 ** _*_** **_You heartless wretch! You will pay for the death of my precious son! My baby! No!*_**

 ** _Thanks for reading! R &R_**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Grandmaster and other powerful people I have to lie to

 _Gabriel's POV_

We left the horrible mansion far behind us and took off at a run toward town. Despite being exhausted, I worked my hardest to keep up with the flitting shadow sprinting in front of me. My mysterious companion intrigued me to no end. There hadn't been a son of Thanatos in many centuries. Children of the death god tend to be reckless and destructive, but this young man was neither. He was cold and calculating, not reveling in death, but more interested in justice over condemnation. This was not typical of an heir of Thanatos.

I put my doubts aside and focused on the journey ahead. Once we entered the town, I gathered my things at the inn that I had been staying at. I then went around to the back of the establishment and in order to ready my horse for a long journey. Sebastian was right behind me, and I could feel the temperature drop around him, like the air itself was dead in his presence. I shivered inwardly at the thought.

"Where are we going?" Sebastian asked. I smiled at his anxiousness to leave.

"Well, Sebastian- wow that is quite a mouthful. Can I call you Bastian?" I asked cheerfully. Judging by the withering glare he gave me, it was not an acceptable substitution for his full name.

"…alright then! What about Seby? Bast? Basty?"I suggested pleasantly, while Sebastian looked like he wanted to strangle me.

"no," Sebastian said coldly, trying to end the conversation.

"Oh I know! Lord Sebastian of the dead, bane of pig-headed rulers!" I announced like a herald welcoming a dignitary. Sebastian looked at me like he was wondering if I was dropped on my head as a child. He then cracked a smile that transformed his whole face.

"Maybe that will work." We both stared at each other for a moment, and then we burst out laughing. For a while we weren't two highly trained killers, we were teenagers having fun and living life.

After a few minutes of uncontrolled merriment, we finally calmed down enough to talk normally.

"Alright, but in all seriousness, where are we going and how will we get there?" Sebastian asked, still wiping away the tears of laughter that were still on his face.

"We are going to the town of Chaville, just south of Versailles. My father is not only the grandmaster of the assassins; he is also a major military leader when we aided America in their war against Britain." I said. I didn't mean to brag, but my dad was a hero. He fought for freedom when there wasn't any, which is why he became the grandmaster of the assassins.

"Alright, well how are we getting there?" Sebastian asked. I was confused by his question. How did he think we were going to get there? By flying?

"We will be riding horses, of course. Do you have a mount?" I asked. He seemed to pale visibly at my question.

"Did you say riding?"

"Why? Can't you ride a horse?"

"umm… I have never tried…" he admitted reluctantly. I scoffed at this. With his natural grace, riding a horse should come naturally to him.

"It will be fine! It is not as bad as you might think!" I told him cheerfully. He clearly didn't agree, because I saw him swallow painfully in nervousness. I then waked over to a powerful looking black steed that I thought would suit him.

"Here, have a go!" I handed the reins to him, which he gripped tightly with white knuckles. He tried to mount the horse. I was surprised by how much he was struggling. He tried to put his left foot in the stirrup, but immediately realized that this would put him on backwards, so he tried again. He tried to grip the saddle belt, but the belt buckle came undone and the whole saddle slid off the back of the horse, with Sebastian still gripping it. He then flopped to the ground painfully. He groaned in frustration, and tried to get up with as much dignity that he could muster.

"I have no idea what I'm doing!" Sebastian said with exasperation.

"That is easy enough to see." I replied, trying my hardest not to laugh at his horrible attempts at riding. He then sent me a glare that could freeze water.

"Don't patronize me. Just show me how to get up onto this blasted thing!" Sebastian growled at me in frustration.

"Alright, fine!" I said, feigning innocence. I re-buckled the saddle and showed him the proper way to mount a horse. Fifteen minutes later, Sebastian was finally on his horse. Granted, he was sitting on it as though it was going to buck him off at any second, but he was definitely on it.

"Ready to go?" I asked him happily. He then turned to face me and smiled impishly,

"Yes, sir," his words dripping in sarcasm. I was really starting to like this guy.

"You know Sebastian; you may be a psychotic, cold-hearted, slightly smelly, churlish, guy with death breath but… I guess you're alright." I said with a lot of incorrigible cynicism. Sebastian gave me a devilish grin and said,

"Is that so? Alright golden boy, let's see if you can smell my breath now." Sebastian said as he kicked his horse forward at a blinding speed. I had been right about him being a natural rider. The mounting may have been rough, but his natural balance kept him in the saddle. I realized that he was now getting very far away.

"Oh, death breath, it is ON!" I yelled as I took off after him.

 _Sebastian's POV_

We had set out riding at sunrise and had only stopped a few times on the way to Chaville. We were close to the city by the time night fell. I was very sore from my first day of riding a horse. Who knew such an animal was not naturally in the underworld. In my opinion, it should be because it was the most infernal animal I had met since arriving on the surface world.

Even though we were getting close to our destination, we stopped for the night in a forest clearing just off the dirt road that we had been following for the past few hours. Gabriel offered to go and find firewood, but I just simply used my powers to set a blaze of hellfire. It didn't need fuel and it lasted as long as I wished it to. Gabriel just gave me a look and shrugged as he continued to set up camp. I had never needed to set up any kind of shelter for myself before. I just used the shadows as my cover, my warmth, and my comfort. They were just as much family to me as my father was.

Once the camp was set up, Gabriel sat down near the fire to warm his hands. He had a thoughtful look on his face, so I knew that it was only a matter of time before he had more questions to ask me. Just as I expected, Gabriel inhaled in anticipation to ask me something. I groaned inwardly at the inevitable string of inquiries that I would surely have to endure.

"So Sebastian, I know that you are a son of Thanatos but… you don't seem like what a child of the death god would be like." Gabriel stated. I was taken aback by this question. I had met Thanatos many times in my father's palace and I knew that he was just as cold as I was.

"Well then what do you know about the children of Thanatos?" I asked Gabriel. I was eager to know what my "father" was like.

"Umm… well… they are chaotic and tend to bring more death and destruction than one would deem necessary," Gabriel replied hesitantly. I could see how the children of Thanatos would be like that. My real dad had told me that when he had given the death god his job, Thanatos had gone on a rampage, killing millions in what the mortals now consider to be the Black Death. A very ironic name if you ask me.

"Well, I am unique amongst my father's children. Thanatos has uhh… calmed down quite a bit over the years and he didn't want his children to be as bloodthirsty as they have been in the past. He took me in once my mother died and raised me himself," I lied. It wasn't that hard to tell this lie. It was extremely similar to the truth except for the fact that my father was Hades himself. Gabriel then gave me a confused look.

"But I thought gods are not allowed to directly interfere with their children's lives," he asked me.

"My father never took such an oath. Because of his uncontrollable nature as death incarnate, the other gods had no way to force him to comply." Gabriel nodded in understanding. I am glad that he seemed to believe my tale.

"What about you? How are you the son of the victory goddess and the assassin grandmaster?" I asked him. I was genuinely confused by his story and was anxious to hear it.

"There is not much to tell. My mother fell in love with one of the most victorious men in France. She has always been attracted to military leaders who went undefeated, and my father is among those men. She is actually a rare goddess because she not only fell in love with him once, but twice," Gabriel said. This last statement confused me. Gabriel obviously saw my confusion so he continued.

"Nike and my father had two children together; me and my younger sister. It is very rare among the gods to have more than one child with the same partner. My father is officially married to Lady Jaqueline but he has always only loved my mother," Gabriel said wistfully as he stared up at the stars in the sky. His story was a beautiful one. It made me wish that I had met my real mother. Gabriel then snapped out of his reverie and turned to me.

"Well that's enough chatter, I think. Off to bed! More traveling tomorrow!" He said cheerfully as he curled up into his sleeping roll. I groaned at the thought of more riding but forced myself to fall asleep. I would need it, for tomorrow I was going to meet the assassin grandmaster.

 _Sebastian's POV_

We woke up just after sunrise and cleaned up camp. Needless to say, I am really not a morning person. I was just not used to the concept of "morning". Sure there was a time when I woke up in the underworld, but it was always blessedly dark so there was no glaring sun to wake up to. I still am not used to that blasted sun. I squinted over at it in hatred.

Gabriel did not share my loathing of mornings. He was springing around the camp in a jolly mood. It made me want to ram his face into a tree.

"Can we leave now?" I grumbled. Gabriel turned to me with his usual smirk on his face.

"Now aren't we a ray of sunshine," he said sarcastically.

"Ugh! Don't talk to me about that infernal ball of fire!" I exclaimed.

"I thought you liked fire."

"I do, just not a huge ball of it in the sky, chasing away all the shadows. It makes me sick." This caused Gabriel to burst out laughing. I certainly found no amusement in this situation. I tried to silence his jovial laughter with an icy glare, but it only made him laugh harder. I ignored him and lethargically continued to ready my horse for the long journey ahead. Oh right another joy to look forward to. The morning and riding for another couple hours. I was beginning to wonder if everyone had it wrong, that the surface was actually hell, not the underworld.

We travelled another four hours through thick forest. Despite Chaville being a territory just south of the palace of Versailles, the area surrounding Gabriel's home was heavily wooded. We approached a clearing in the forest only to be greeted by a huge mansion surrounded by an acre of cleared land. The lawn was meticulously manicured and had a huge fountain right in front of the house with a statue in the shape of an eagle taking flight. I stopped in shock at the level of beauty on display in one structure.

"I thought you said you lived in a house, not a castle!" I said in awe. Gabriel turned to me and laughed,

"No, this is nothing! You should see the king's palace in Versailles. It is twenty times more elaborate." I tried my best to contain my astonishment at his words. We then dismounted our horses and were approached by two servants.

" _Bonjour monsieur,_ was your journey successful?" one asked Gabriel as he grabbed the horse's reins.

"Yes, I believe it was," Gabriel said and glanced in my direction. The servant seemed to notice me with some apprehension, but like any good servant, he held his tongue.

"Very good _monsieur_ , Lord Moreau is expecting you in his private study."

"Thank you, we will be there shortly." Gabriel responded courteously. I was curious as to where they were taking the horses so I turned to the side and watched the servants lead the steeds toward a large barn a hundred feet away from the main house. I was so absorbed in my observation of Gabriel's home that I did not notice when a huge _something_ rammed me from the side, onto my back. I quickly began to reach for my weapon to retaliate against my attacker, but I stopped when I felt a wet tongue start licking my face. I heard a young girl's giggles from above me and I looked up to see a large hunting dog sitting on my chest lapping at my face.

" _Baissie,_ no! Get off of him!" exclaimed a girl's voice. The dog, which was ironically named Bear, leaped off of me and ran toward a young girl standing a few feet away from me. She was a small girl, about two heads shorter than me. She was wearing a bright yellow dress and had little bows tied into her curly golden hair. I then noticed that she looked exactly like Gabriel. It was not hard to tell that this was his younger sister.

"Genny! How many times have I told you? Keep Bear away from guests!" Gabriel scolded.

"It really isn't a problem. I am sure that it was an accident," I said, trying to defend Genny. Gabriel then gave Genny a devilish grin and started to tickle her. She rolled all over the floor, trying to escape his fingers.

"ha ha ha! Oh Gabe please sto- Ha ha ha!" she pleaded with Gabriel. This little lady was positively adorable with her puppy dog eyes and dimples. Gabriel then stopped tickling her and turned to me.

"Oh how rude of you Genny! Introduce yourself to our guest!" he said with a snicker. Genny seemed to notice me for the first time and suddenly became very sheepish. She looked down at her toes and mumbled.

"Hello, sir. My name is Geneviève and I am six years old," she told me. I got down on my knees so I could look her in the eye and said,

"It is a pleasure to meet you Lady Genevieve. I must say, those are the prettiest bows I have ever seen," I said as though I was talking to a princess. She perked up at my words and smiled at me.

"Thank you mister! I put them in all by myself!" she said proudly.

"Oh wow! You are becoming such a big girl!" Gabriel exclaimed with pride.

"How are your studies coming?" At this question, Genny made a face.

"My reading is fine but I have a hard time with my Maths," she explained. Gabriel then turned to me with a look of smugness.

"I taught her everything she knows." I laughed at this and Genny stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, I am glad to see you again after so long!" Gabriel said.

"I missed you Gabey!" she said and threw her arms around his leg in the best hug she could give.

"I missed you too, peaches. We have to go meet father now!" Gabriel exclaimed.

"Okay, Gabe! Bye mister!" she said and turned around to keep playing with Bear.

Gabriel sighed in happiness at the sight of his little sister having fun with the dog. After a few moments of watching her, he straightened up and gestured to me to follow him as he entered the house.

We entered Gabriel's home and we were met by a large open room with a grand staircase in the center. Everything was ornately crafted in white marble with gold accents. It looked like a Greek palace. We climbed the staircase and turned left down the hall. Gabriel stopped at the end of the hallway at a set of double doors that had a strange crest on it. I had seen a similar mark on the assassins' clothes so I assumed that it was their symbol. Gabriel pushed open the two doors and entered into his father's office.

It was a massive room with a long wall of windows facing outwards toward the back of the house and another set of fountains similar to the one in front of the mansion. Every item in the room was polished so it shined. Large and impressive books lined an entire wall that was adjacent to the wall of windows. The architecture and design of the room spoke of power and grandeur on a scale that I had never seen before. I then turned my attention to a pair of men standing by the window talking in low voices.

They seemed to be polar opposites, appearance-wise, with one being light and the other dark. The slightly shorter man then noticed us and I got a look at his face. His black eyes immediately narrowed once they saw me, and a slight sneer fell across his age worn face. He brushed past me and Gabriel without a second glance. The remaining lighter man then addressed us with while still looking out the window.

"Welcome home, my son," the man said simply. I could hear the touch of affection in the gruff voice that belonged to Gabriel's father.

"Who is this young man you have brought with you?" he asked without turning around. I didn't know if he had seen us in the reflection of the windows, or he was simply that skilled.

"Father, this is Sebastian, son of Thanatos. He saved my life. He is a good man." Gabriel explained. At his son's words, Gerard Moreau turned to regard me with his own eyes.

The assassin grandmaster was not the type of person that I had been expecting. Based on the way Gabriel had spoken of him, I had assumed that he would be a huge, stern man. The assassin regarding me could not be more different than what I had been anticipating. He was dressed in typical white assassin robes; the only thing setting him apart from the rest of his assassins was the flying eagle crest in the middle of the standard assassin crest on his belt. He was a thin but clearly strong man. He had a well-wrinkled face, but his brown eyes showed a deep intelligence untarnished by age. He had short cropped blonde-gray hair. I could easily see that Gabriel was the spitting image of his father.

I bowed deeply toward the man that clearly deserved all the respect I could give.

"Please there is no need to bow. I may be the grandmaster here but I insist on equality among my ranks and everyone I meet," Gerard said with a wizened smile.

"Thank you for saving my son's life. Now, if you don't mind, can you please share with me the story of how you accomplished such a feat?" Gerard asked of me.

"Certainly, sir," and I launched into the tale of how I saved Gabriel. Throughout my story, Gerard fingered something just below his collar every few minutes. I had no idea what he was doing, but he didn't interrupt me once so I assumed it was nothing too important. When I had finished my anecdote an hour later, the grandmaster walked over to me and stuck out his hand silently asking me to shake it. I returned his gesture and he said,

"Now I know how much I truly owe you for saving my foolish boy from certain death. What can I do to repay you?" Gerard asked me. When I came here, I was not expecting this opportunity, so I was stunned in the face of it. I was still considering what to say when I heard Gabriel loudly clear his throat. He then turned to his father and said,

"You really should have seen Sebastian fighting, my lord! He was like a demon! I don't know if this is more of a punishment than a gift, but might I suggest asking him to join our ranks as an assassin?" Gabriel asked as innocently as he could. I noticed that his eyes gleamed with excitement to continue having me fight by his side.

"Well that is up to Sebastian to decide. Whatever he had requested, I was still going to offer him the same thing," Gerard explained. I was taken aback by how trusting these secretive assassins could be. They were almost making it too easy for me.

"I will accept your generous offer, but with one condition."

"And what might that be?" the grandmaster asked me.

"That wherever this thoughtless golden boy goes, I go too. He may be reckless, but he is one heck of a fighter and I would love to continue working with him," I said to Gabriel's dad. He considered my terms for a moment and agreed to them.

"At the end of the month, we will have a celebration of my son's first successful mission. At the end of the festivities, we will have your initiation ceremony, as well," Gerard explained. He turned toward his desk, away from us, and continued talking. "In the meantime, you will be given a chamber and will start training first thing tomorrow."

"Of course, sir. Thank you for this opportunity," I said in gratitude. In response to my statement, he turned to face me head on and said bluntly,

"It is not often that we assassins accept outsiders to be among our ranks. I hope you can prove to us that you deserve this gift, for it will not be given again," he said ominously. I shivered inwardly, but my face betrayed nothing as I inclined my head in respect.

"I know that I can prove it to you, sir," I said with confidence.

"I have a feeling that indeed you will. Now, Gabriel, please escort Sabastian to the room across the hall from yours. I believe he will find that satisfactory." Gabriel inclined his head slightly and exited the room with me following close behind.

 _Gerard Moreau's POV_

I watched my son and his friend leave my office. This young man, Sebastian, was an intriguing fellow. I had heard tales of past sons of Thanatos, and he was nothing like what they had described. I knew that his story was true because my lie-detecting eagle pendant did not grow warm at any time during his anecdote. At least I knew that this young man could be trusted. However, despite my eagle pendant never telling me that he lied, something about him made my instincts tell me not to trust him.

I knew that it was in my nature as an assassin not to trust anyone. My instincts had saved me on more than one occasion. I shook my head at my suspicious thoughts. The boy had done nothing so far to make me not trust him. I was probably being too cautious.

Even though my instincts told me not to put my faith in him, I found myself growing to like my son's new friend. He was witty with his speech and had an easy way of talking to my son. I knew that I was only seeing one side of Sebastian displayed in our conversation, though. I recognized that look in his eyes, the eyes of a cold-blooded killer. Sometimes I would look in the mirror and see the same eyes, ones that held more danger than anyone could know.

I sighed at this thought. One so young should not have those eyes. It was not hard to tell that this man was robbed of his innocence at a young age. He did not seem like my own son. Gabriel was just like his mother, stubborn and determined to get whatever he wanted; if that meant killing someone, then it had to be done. Sebastian reminded me more of myself, having to fight his personal demons and using carnage as a way to let those demons out to play. He would be a natural leader if he learned how to use his demons in his favor, as I had. Unlike Sebastian, Gabriel was single-minded and seemed to lack the capability to lead others. This greatly worried me about his future, because he was my only heir. It was a shame that he didn't have the capability of being a truly fine leader, like Sebastian.

I continued my contemplation on our newest assassin recruit. I looked forward to assessing his skills for myself. If Gabriel's description was anything to go off of, it would be amazing to witness. I didn't know whether to be apprehensive of Sebastian or to be thrilled that he would be fighting alongside my son. Either way, Sebastian, son of Thanatos was someone to keep an eye on, that was for sure.

 **I know that was a somewhat boring chapter, but the next one will be more exciting, I promise! If you liked it or not, let me know! R &R!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Meetings, Questions, and Other Awkward Situations

 _Hestia's POV_

 _Olympian Throne Room_

"This is getting out of hand, Zeus!" Poseidon exclaimed. I could only agree. My brother had been letting the situation below Olympus get beyond horrible. France was no longer the center of civilization and we should have moved on by now. We should be hovering above London or any other country by now, but there was one problem.

"Well what am I supposed to be doing, dear brother? I have sent out my Templars to search for her! It is not my fault what they do in the meantime!" Zeus shouted.

"But killing innocent mortals for no reason is not the way to do this! The people are already going mad with bloodlust! Are your Templars asking for a revolution?!" Poseidon shouted back. I looked up from my tending of the fire to stare at my brother. It had been a long time since I had seen him this angry. I observed the other faces of the present Olympians and saw shock in their eyes as well. I glanced at the one empty throne and was filled with sadness. Our family was very weak, along with every family in the country below us. I could feel their aching bellies and hear their agonized screams.

Zeus took a deep breath and tried to continue calmly.

"What my group of demigods are doing is unforgivable, but I do not think you understand the consequences should she not be found. It has been seven months since she disappeared," Zeus sighed.

"Because of her absence, the people have starved from of lack of bread. They have started going insane trying to find a baker with any of it, but without Demeter, there is no use. Their bread is gone, along with her," Athena stated. Hermes then looked up from his ponderings.

"I have news. One of your Templar demigods has spotted an Assassin. Apparently there was a massacre in the Cojas residence. All of the guards were killed. Fortunately one of my sons saw the whole thing and escaped. He said there were two assassins there," Hermes stated. Athena sat up straight at this news and asked,

"And what of my son Jacque?" Surprisingly, Dionysus answered this question. He chuckled darkly and slurred,

"I caan sense hiss insanity even from heere. That boy did quite a numbeer on 'im! Oh yes 'e-hiccup-did." With all of the anarchy going on below, Dionysus' power had grown so much that he had been drunk constantly. This was one of the most lucid things he had said in quite some time.

"I knew it! Those Assassins are responsible for Demeter's disappearance! We must rally our troops and find her before it is too late," Zeus shouted. I shook my head and said,

"I do not know where Demeter is, but I can tell you that she is hidden from my sight by something dark and ancient. I highly doubt that the Assassins are responsible for this."

"Regardless, we have no other ideas where she might be. You know we need to find her so we can move Olympus away from this destruction, but without a full council of Olympians, we don't have enough power to do so. These Assassins may not have her themselves, but they could know where she is," Athena reasoned. Zeus was nodding his head in agreement and was about to shout some orders when Hermes said,

"If I may, my lord, the Assassins are crafty. Rushing at them head on may not be the best plan."

"Alright Hermes, did you have any ideas in mind?" Zeus asked.

Hermes only grinned in response. I sighed inwardly. I knew that the growing family of Assassins that I had been watching was about to encounter some serious hardship. I could only hope that they would be ready.

 _Sebastian's POV_

 _The next morning_

I woke up in a slight state of confusion. For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was, but then I realized that I was in my new room in the Moreau's home. I looked up from my four-poster bed and observed my newest dwelling. It was far brighter than my old room because everything was gilded in gold and white marble. I sighed as I witnessed the sun rise from my large window directly opposite of my bed. Why must my room face east? I don't think I will ever get used to the horrific ritual that is the morning.

I swung my legs out of bed and got ready quickly. I was excited for the training that I would be going through today. I knew that the intensity of the training could never rival what my father or Alecto could come up with, but I looked forward to the familiarity of sweat and aching muscles.

I exited my room and crossed the hall to enter Gabriel's room. As I entered, Gabriel looked up from putting his brown boots on, to greet me.

"Good morning, Sebastian! How did you sleep?" he asked sunnily. I squinted meanly at him and didn't reply. I personally thought that people who enjoy mornings should get their heads checked.

"Alright then! You ready to start training?" Gabriel admitted.

"Yes, I am looking forward to it," I answered honestly.

At this response, he nodded and finished getting ready. We both left his room and walked toward where I assumed the training session would start. We went to the back of the house and into the trees directly behind the back yard. Gabriel started to stretch his muscles in anticipation of something.

"What are you doing?" I asked incredulously.

"I am preparing to go on a run through the woods. I would suggest you do the same. It is easy to pull a muscle while running on uneven ground." I hardly thought this was necessary since I had been running in rougher terrain than this since I was a child. But just to ease Gabriel's mind, I stretched a little.

We then took off at a run through the forest. The uneven ground made it hard to find purchase while running, but I naturally shifted my weight depending on the situation. We vaulted over fallen tree trunks and jumped over small creeks. After about two hours of this physical challenge, Gabriel was panting. I was still breathing evenly, though. I now considered that it may be harder to run in the underworld because of the higher pull of gravity. I felt so much lighter here on the surface of the earth. I guess I was used to working harder to get places, so I tired slower than most.

Gabriel gave me a look suggesting his confusion about me not being out of breath.

"Wow, you must be in good shape! I am exhausted!" he said as he flopped down on the ground. I laughed at the comical position he was in. I was ready to move on to more training, but Gabriel clearly wasn't. I waited a few minutes for him to catch his breath. Finally, he huffed out a long sigh and stood up.

"Alright, let's go meet Armand, the sword trainer, on the sparring field," Gabriel said. I had never heard of this Armand before, so as we walked, I asked Gabriel about him.

"Well, he is a son of Eris the goddess of discord and strife. He is an amazing swordsman! Normally children of Eris just cause problems wherever they go, but Armand uses his powers to only give troubles to his enemies," I was fascinated by this story. I could not wait to meet this son of Eris.

When we entered the sparring field, I immediately identified who Armand was. He looked to be no more than a year older than I was. He wore typical assassin robes, but his had open slashes all over it, as though they were battle scars. His most striking feature however was his long, dark red hair which was in stark contrast to his pale face. It made him stand out from the typical Frenchman who was usually blonde or brunette.

Armand was lounging against a fence post watching two young assassins spar. He seemed to radiate discord and woe. He noticed one of the children let their arm fall too low and he said in a deep voice,

"Francis, lift your sword arm higher. You are making it too easy on Antoine to beat your blade out of your hand. Focus." Armand ordered. He didn't raise his voice above normal speaking volume, but his tone held so much authority that Francis immediately obeyed. Armand then seemed to notice us for the first time and turned to face us.

"And how may I help you two this morning?"

"We are here to start training. This is Sebastian, our newest recruit," explained Gabriel. Armand looked me up and down in observation.

"Alright, let's see what you've got," he said simply.

Francis and Antoine left the sparring field and made room for Gabriel and I. We got into ready stances, and started fighting when Armand told us to. It was exhilarating fighting Gabriel. Being the son of Nike meant that he could lose no fight against an opponent that he chose to fight against. He was faster than any adversary that I had ever faced. He was constantly on the offensive and was attempting to drive me back. His barrage of strikes never made contact however, my defense was near impenetrable. I realized that I could not beat Gabriel in the traditional way, so I would have to trick him into losing. After a long series of blows, I feigned exhaustion and let my sword arm fall slightly, letting Gabriel see an opening in my defense. His eyes gleamed as he thought he saw victory within his grasp. He slashed up ward and I bent down away from the blow landing on my knees in order to avoid the strike and grasped the rock that I had noticed earlier. I had set this up perfectly. When I fell to my knees, he got hit with the full rays of the morning sun, blinding him. Finally that blasted thing could be useful. While he was distracted, I forcefully rolled the rock on the ground to hit Gabriel's feet. I knew that if I tried to engage him myself, he would win, so I used my surroundings to fight for me. Gabriel fell back, and I rose up to lay the tip of my sword against his neck.

"Do you yield?" I asked calmly. Gabriel was too out of breath and too shocked to speak, so he simply nodded. I removed the sword from his neck and held out my hand to help him up. I looked at Armand and saw that his mouth was agape and his eyes were wide in shock.

"H-how did you do that? Nobody has ever beaten Gabriel in a fight! Not even me!" he said in awe. I simply shrugged my shoulders.

"It's not as hard to win against golden boy as you may think," I said with a smirk. I looked at Armand and then Gabriel and said, "again?"

 _Sebastian's POV_

 _7 hours later_

I was now back in my room, cleaning up after an intense day of training. Gabriel had asked me to find him in the library later so I could learn the skills of being an assassin that can't be taught on a battle field.

Once I arrived at the entrance of the library, I heard talking through the doors. I entered quietly and tried to listen in on the conversation.

"Alright if you're so smart, answer this next riddle." I heard a voice say. I realized that it was Gabriel.

"Okay, go ahead, _crétin,"_ challenged an obviously female voice.

"A man is brought into court and is charged with murder. There is not enough evidence to convict him without a shadow of a doubt. He has an equal chance of being guilty or innocent. What verdict would you give him?" Gabriel asked. There was a moment of silence, as though the girl was thinking through what she was going to say next.

"A quote by a Voltaire comes to mind, but I can't recall exactly what it says…"

" _Il est préférable au risque épargnant un coupable qu'afin de condamner un innocent_ ," I said as I stepped into the library, making my presence known.

 _Gabriel's POV_

I was just starting to feel smug, because Estelle could not fault my riddle, when Sebastian stepped out. I jumped a little at his sudden appearance. Estelle stared at him angrily and reached for her nonexistent sword. Crackling green eyes met icy blue. Things became deadly quiet immediately and the air became chilly with uncertainty. Sabastian looked surprised- by what I have no idea, but he stopped dead in his tracks not able to speak. I was beginning think that Sebastian may be scared of her but then he stepped forward with his hand stretched out in a friendly gesture ready to shake her hand. She slowly raised her hand. Sebastian took it and leaned down not letting his eyes leave her face as he placed his lips against the back of her hand. This seemed to rouse Estelle from her daze. She quickly took her hand away and said in a shaky voice,

"I appreciate the help, _monsieur._ I couldn't for the life of me remember the quote. And you are…?"

"Sebastian. I do not believe we have had the pleasure of meeting."

I was becoming more confused as this exchange occurred, there was obvious delay in both of their reactions. And given that they are both skilled fighters I expected to react quickly. Something weird had just happened but I wasn't going to look into it. It was likely nothing.

Estelle was not very open to being around men, except for me, my father, and Pascal. I grew sad as I remembered why she had always been like that. It seemed that Sebastian hadn't noticed Estelle's hands yet.

The skin on her hands was marred with scars all the way up to her wrists. Her hands could still function, but the burn marks permanently tarnished her almost flawless beauty. If Estelle hadn't been an assassin, she would have been an outcast in French society. Fortunately for her, our order did not place much value on looks or gender, only on skills.

It seemed that Sebastian had finally noticed Estelle's scars, and was trying to contain his shock. His face held many questions that I was unwilling to answer. It wasn't my responsibility to spill Estelle's life story to him. He would have to wait for her to open up about her tragic past on her own.

"Well, thank you Sebastian for the answer," I interjected. "Now if you will excuse us, Estelle, we must move on to reading about assassination techniques."

I spoke cheerfully but Sabastian looked frantic to do anything but leave. He was clearly upset that he could not keep talking to Estelle. I was beginning to understand what was happening between the two.

"Oh, it is no it is no problem at all," Estelle said and was about to turn back to her books, but she stopped and turned to face Sebastian.

"It was nice meeting you, Sebastian. I hope I will see you again soon," she looked at him far longer than was appropriate. Sebastian was about to stumble out with a response, but Estelle had already turned and left the library. I sighed at the longing look on his face, knowing that Estelle was walking away with the same feeling

"Come on, Romeo. Time to learn your history," I stated. Sebastian's only response to my order was to groan in anticipation of the long road he had ahead of him.

 _Sebastian's POV_

 _2 hours later_

We had finally left the library after what felt like ages. In the underworld, I was educated in many languages and histories, but the texts were always already translated into Greek so I could read them. These books were all in French and the words seemed to swim on the page, making it hard to read. My father told me that it was because Greek was easier for children of the gods to read, so it was difficult to read in other languages. In any case, this made learning almost impossible and I had a headache after our session.

"After all that learning, I am starved!" Gabriel exclaimed while dramatically rubbing his stomach. I rolled my eyes.

"You are always hungry." Gabriel chose to ignore me and kept strolling down the hallway.

"Let's go to the kitchens. Maybe Madame Lemoine has some fresh loaves of bread out," Gabriel stated hopefully. I was about to ask who this Madame Lemoine was, but Gabriel had already rounded the corner, so I hurried to catch up to him. He turned quickly into a door and I followed him. Immediately, I stopped short at the scene that greeted me. The smells here were delicious but I couldn't identify one scent by itself for they were so deliciously mixed together. There was a large mass of people rushing around, flipping pans, moving pots, rummaging through spices, and washing dishes in a wild flurry. Of all the noises in the kitchen, there was one voice that rose above them all shouting in a thick English accent.

"I said _six_ sprigs of parsley not three! We doubled that recipe! Oi, you! The scallops are to be finely chopped not brazenly bashed like a potato! Yes, good but one egg is supposed to be separated before added in." This, I assumed, was Madame Lemoine. She then noticed us in her kitchen and said,

"Oh no, young man! Not in my kitchen! You know you aint allowed in 'ere!"

"But my dear, I only wanted a small snack after such a _long_ day of training…" whined Gabriel as innocently as possible. Madame Lemoine was not so easily convinced, however.

"I don't care if you just got done slaying a thousand monsters! You will be getting your food along side the rest of the family!" she exclaimed. With that, she grabbed her spoon and said,

"Do I have to whack you upside the head, young man?!" shouted Madame Lemoine. Gabriel paled and backed away hastily.

"N-no Madame, we were just leaving!" with that, Gabriel grabbed my wrist and ran out the door. Before we were able to get away fully, Gabriel ran straight into someone, sending the person, him, and me to the floor. I was trying to get back up again when I heard a muffled,

"Get off me you _imbecile!_ " Gabriel then jumped up from the floor saying,

"Oh sorry twinkle twit, I didn't see you there. If I had, I would have left my rainbow at home so you couldn't rain on it." The person that Gabriel had fallen on stood up and I realized that she was a girl who could not have been two years younger than me.

"Rainbows need rain to exist, Sunshine." I looked back and forth between Gabriel and the girl that Gabriel fell on. I realized that she was an assassin because she was wearing their training robes. She was short with auburn hair and turquoise eyes. Gabriel seemed a bit flabbergasted by her response and before he could respond, the girl turned to me and said,

"I don't think we have met. I'm Vivienne daughter of Tyche."

"Just because she is the child of the luck goddess, she thinks she is so clever." Vivienne turned to Gabriel with an incredulous look.

"You really are a complete idiot." At this, I turned to her and said,

"Well, in his defense, he's not a _complete_ idiot. I'm sure some parts of his brain are missing." Vivienne looked at me and smiled.

"I am really starting to like you." Gabriel scowled at this. I gave her a rare smile in return and said.

"Oh how rude of Gabriel to not introduce his new friend. I'm Sebastian son of Thanatos."

"It is very nice to meet you, Sebastian. Maybe your attitude can help this obnoxious rainbow calm down."

"Hey, a positive attitude may not solve all of my problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth it!" Gabriel exclaimed. Vivienne looked at him incredulously.

"Do you think if I hit your face against this wall, it would make a gonging noise?" with that, Vivienne nodded at me and turned on her heels and walked away.

"Always a pleasure talking with you Sparkle Fart!" Gabriel called after her. I was surprised by Gabriel's actions. Normally, he wasn't this venomous with people. I could tell that he didn't mean half of what he said to Vivienne but there was something going on between those two that I had no idea about. Maybe if I knew more about how socializing on the surface world I would know why Gabriel had a goofy grin on his face and a strange look in his eye as he turned away from Vivienne.

Just as we were about to keep walking, a loud bell sound rang out and Gabriel looked into a room. There was a large grandfather clock in the corner. Gabriel turned to me and exclaimed,

"Oh my, we need to go! It's time for dinner!" He then raced away and I ran after him.

I entered a large dining room right behind Gabriel. It was gilded in gold and red velvet on the walls and on the long table. The table could easily seat thirty people but only five were there. Gerard Moreau was sitting at the head of the table with a beautiful woman on his right side and an empty seat on his left. I assumed that this fair woman was Gerard's wife. Gabriel's sister was sitting to the left of her stepmom. When she saw me, she gave me a dimpled smile and a tiny wave. Next to her were Vivienne and Estelle. Estelle glanced at me from the corner of her eye, but resolutely tried not to make eye contact with me. For the first time, I noticed the scars on her hands.

They crisscrossed over her fingers in an almost beautiful pattern. Instead of looking like angry red blisters or puckered pink skin like I had seen before, it danced all around her hand like pure red veins. Luckily, the burns clearly didn't affect how her hands functioned. Estelle may look ashamed of them, but in the underworld, I was brought up to believe that scars were honorable and showed your enemies that you were not one to be messed with. Estelle should be proud of her scars and I wondered what had caused her to treat them as she did.

I absently considered my own scars as the conversation around me turned to menial topics that did not concern me. I had quite a few scars that were easily covered by my clothes, but one in particular was not so easy to hide. I had an oddly shaped scar running from the corner of my left eye that snaked its way to my left temple. It was shaped in a roughly like crescent, but because of the hood I almost always had up, it was hard for anyone to see unless they looked closely.

I looked up from my musings to see that everyone was watching me. Gerard was observing me expectantly. I realized that they may have asked me something while I had been thinking. I hastily sat up straighter and said,

"I apologize for my rudeness. Can you please repeat what you just said?" Gerard nodded and repeated his question,

"Sebastian, I am sure that you have a few questions for us and I was giving you an opportunity to voice them before our other guests join us." At this, I noticed that there were two other places set out on the table, in addition to the seat to the left of Gerard.

"Well, to start off, I would like to thank you for your hospitality, so far. As you have already said, I am in need of a few answers," I was then interrupted by a peal of laughter echoing from the hall outside the door. Shortly after hearing this, the doors opened to reveal our last two dinner guests. The first to enter was a short young lady followed by a young man. The girl had ringlets of curly red hair that cascaded down her back in long rivulets. I noticed that her eyes were a bright green and I was marveling at the vividness of the color, but then she blinked and they changed to a light purple. I was thoroughly confused, for I could have sworn that they were green. I was about to account it to a change in the light, but then she blinked again and they changed to the clearest blue I had ever seen. Just as I thought to myself that I could not meet a stranger demigod than I just had, I proved myself wrong by turning to examine the boy who had accompanied her.

The skinny young man was as white as a ghost. His hair and skin were the palest white that reminded me of fresh parchment. I would have thought him to be an albino if it wasn't for his eyes. They were a deep purple and as I examined them, I found myself feeling drowsy. When the boy turned away, the feeling vanished and I marveled at the power I felt in that gaze. These young assassins were very curious to be sure.

They both sat down next to each other and introductions were made.

"Hello! I'm Chaurice, but you can call me Cherry, everyone else does," the red haired girl exclaimed with a childish giggle.

"If it is not too rude to ask, why do your eyes change color? I have never met a demigod who could do that," I asked. Instead of Cherry answering, her companion answered for her.

"She is a daughter of Iris, so her eyes change like the rainbow every time she blinks" the boy stated wistfully. I was about to introduce myself when the young man interrupted me.

"There is no need to explain who you are, I know a little bit about you, Sebastian. I feel that we are going to be good friends for I too hate mornings and the sun." I was taken aback by what he said. I knew some demigods had the ability to read minds and I was about to get mad that he had without my permission when Cherry quickly exclaimed,

"No, no he didn't read your mind. Pascal is a son of Hypnos, the god of sleep. When anyone looks into his eyes, he can hear what your last thought was before you fell asleep and right after you wake up. He's scared the daylights out of me too more than a few times!" Cherry chortled loudly after saying this. I liked this boisterous girl, but I was surprised that she was friends with such a quiet person like Pascal.

"Thank you for clearing that up for me Cherry. I was about to get more than a little angry." Pascal smiled dreamily at that, and a calm feeling settled over me. Eager to change the subject, Gabriel interjected in his typical brash manner.

"So… Bastian… still have any questions… comments… concerns…" he drifted off at that as I shot a look at him for using my unwanted nickname.

"Yes, well, I suppose I have a few of those." I paused and made sure I had everyone's attention.

"Who are the Templars?" At my question, the room's atmosphere suddenly became tense. Everyone seemed to have a silent conversation which each other. They were staring as if they were fighting over who would be the one to tell me. They all appeared to come to an agreement and Gerard was the one who ended up explaining. With a sigh, he stated,

"Templars are the greatest threat to freedom since the gods were actively involved in the world. In fact, they are the incarnation of the Olympian's wrath. They are an organization of elite demigods with special combat or mental training in anticipation that something horrible should occur. They take what they want and completely disregard rules." Gerard heaved a sigh and continued his explanation.

"They were formed by the major gods hundreds of years ago. In response to their reign of terror, the minor gods decided to secretly gather all of their children and a few of their legacies to create an order to oppose their power-hungry ways." He paused at my confused look at the mentioning of the word 'legacies'.

"Oh, my apologies. Legacies are not directly descended from a god like a demigod. They may be a child of one or two demigods. They still have god-like attributes, but they are not as powerful as normal demigods. For example, I am a part of a long legacy line from Ariadne, goddess of labyrinths and paths. Not a very powerful goddess, but her children have always been good leaders because of their capacity to choose correct paths in life." I understood his answer, but I had a few more questions about the assassins.

"So there are more of you? I mean, other than the assassins here?" Gerard nodded and said,

"Indeed. While we are not the largest organization, our threats are many so we are spread all across France. There is an assassins' outpost at every major city throughout the country."

"Ah, that makes sens-" I was then interrupted by the dining room doors slamming open with a bang. Of all the people I had expected it to be, I had not anticipated the person to enter in the middle of dinner to be the darker man from Gerard's office yesterday. Today, he had his hood down so I could see his face more clearly. He had skin pale as death and hair that was in direct contrast by being dark black. His eyebrows were knitted together in a perpetual scowl and his eyes were as black as night. His short beard did little to hide his down-turned mouth. As I took in my first look at this new man, I felt a slight chill run up my spine for reasons I did not know.

Without acknowledging anyone else in the room, he strode over to Gerard's side and said, "Lord Moreau, my contacts within the Templars tell me that there was an Olympian Council meeting. They were unable to find out what the aim of the meeting was but-"

"Oh, Fabien. So like a son of Melinoe to ghost into here without a second thought."

I stiffened as I heard the goddess of ghosts, Melinoe's name. She was one of my cousins by Hades and Persephone and hated me with a passion for gaining father's affections more easily than her. Well, it wasn't _my_ fault she was so uptight and difficult to be around. Gerard turned to me and said,

"Sebastian, this is Fabien Rousseau, my second in command. Fabien, this is Sebastian, son of Thanatos." Even though it seemed impossible, Fabien's scowl deepened as he turned his cold eyes on me. Acting as though it physically pained him, he inclined his head slightly and said,

"Pleasure," he then turned back to Gerard, "As I was saying, my spies believe that the Templar threat may be eminent-" Gerard stopped him by raising one hand.

"Please, Fabien, no war talk at the dinner table. I do not believe it belongs in present company." At this, I looked around to the other occupants of the table. Gabriel looked disappointed that he wouldn't hear any news and was trying poorly to hide it. Vivienne looked somewhat bored with everything going on and Estelle seemed like she was trying to avoid looking directly at me, never letting her eyes settle on anything. Pascal almost looked like he was sleeping with his eyes open and Cherry was obliviously making a butterfly with the napkins and making it fly around propelled by bursts of light. I did my best not to roll my eyes at everyone's childish behavior.

Fabien Rousseau's thoughts seemed to reflect my own as he grimaced and sighed.

"Of course, Lord Moreau," he then sat down to Gerard's left and tucked a napkin into his robes, "So, what is for dinner?" Gerard smiled at the pleasant change of subject.

"We are getting a sampling of what will be served for Nemeseia festival next week." I was about to ask what that was, when Gabriel exclaimed,

"Oh Bastian, you're going to love Nemeseia! It is my favorite time of year! It's when we celebrate the founding of the Assassins by the goddess Nemesis." I scowled slightly at Gabriel's over-exuberance and continued use of my nickname. Gerard cleared his throat and said,

"Yes, well I'm sure you will enjoy it, Sebastian. It is one of the few times each year that most of our order gathers in one place. It will be a great opportunity to meet everyone." A chance to further establish myself among the Assassins? Count me in.

"I am indeed looking forward to it." I then ducked my head to concentrate on the soup we were just served to hide my scheming smirk. As more meaningless chatter was passed over dinner, I couldn't help thinking my infiltration into the order of Assassins had been a success.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Nothing Brightens a Party like Revenge and Death**

Hades POV

Despite being filled with countless souls, never ending pits, and spawning monsters, the underworld was becoming increasingly boring. It had been a handful of moon cycles on the surface world since my son had left. I was most certainly not missing him at all. I shifted slightly in my thrown with irritation at the thought. No, I was just missing the distraction Sebastian posed from the mundaneness that the underworld had become. I had finally gotten over the irritating habit of quickly turning to the palace doors to see who was entering. I had become accustomed to Sebastian barging in without announcing himself, so it was understandable that I would look to the door every time it was flung open. Completely understandable, I reasoned.

A grunting growl brought me back to the present tedious business of the underworld. One of the furies, I had not cared to notice which, was giving me a report on the going's on throughout my 'kingdom'. In an attempt to get my attention, she had coughed midway through her report. With a resigned sigh, I started to rub my temples and said,

"Continue."

"As I was saying, my Lord, Melinoe is once again requesting to speak with y- "

"Ugh! That spoiled brat of a daughter just wants more of her ghosts roaming the surface world. Tell her I won't let her manipulations extend farther than they already have… and that's final!"

I saw the fury try to repress a groan. She knew, as well as I did, how much of a menace Melinoe could be.

"Very well sire. Also, there seems to be a growing amount of shadows spanning the underworld." I scoffed and replied,

"That is no news, you incompetent servant! This is the underworld, of course there are shadows!" The fury cowered slightly as the fire behind me flared for a moment.

"Yes, indeed sire, but the shadows originated in Tartarus and they seem to be infesting the ceiling of most of your kingdom." At the mention of Tartarus, I immediately stiffened. If there were suspicious shadows emanating from that horrid thing, that could only be a bad omen. I paused for a few moments in thought.

"Are there any whispers of rumors from Her children." I didn't dare say this particular goddess' name aloud. The fury clearly knew exactly who I was referring to as she shuddered slightly.

"No, sire. The children of Night have been quiet… very quiet." She then glanced around furtively, as if she feared someone else was listening. I couldn't help but share her paranoia as a result of this news.

"Is it possible that She is planning something? Have there been any movements of monsters in the pit?"

"Well, sire, they seem restless. Other than that, there is nothing unusual about their movements."

Somehow, I was unable to find this completely reassuring. If She was hoping to take advantage of the situation stirring on the surface and on Olympus, there was not much that could be done. I couldn't help but wonder if the disappearance of my 'dear' sister, Demeter, had something to do with the Night goddess' movements. Not only was the air ripe with revolution, but it was also fraught with fear and darkness. As I realized the ominous danger that could be approaching, my thoughts turned to my son. He could potentially be in harm's way. Coming to a conclusion, I said,

"We must notify my son of these events. Send one of the shadow servants to warn him. Tell them to be discreet and only approach him when he is alone."

Heartened by the opportunity to do something productive against the growing Night, the fury stood at attention and said,

"I will personally see to it my Lord." With her orders to take care of, she then left me to my thoughts. The hellfire blazing in my throne room cast eerie shadows that almost seemed deeper than before.

I should start amassing my forces to hold the Night back for as long as possible. In the face of this new threat, I could only hope that my old plans of revolution would succeed. I had no doubt that my pawns would succeed, but I was particularly concerned with one of them. I shook myself from the worrisome thoughts. Sebastian was no longer a defenseless child. He would be fine; I ensured that by personally seeing to his training.

The door once again swung open, and I found myself falling back on old habits by turning to look quickly. It was just an orderly coming to ask if I needed anything. The words, " _my son back safely,"_ went unspoken as I waved the servant away.

Fabien Rousseau's POV

In my opinion, some days were better than others; and this one not one of those better days. In fact, it was not one of the better weeks. The training young whelps seemed more irritating than normal and the paperwork to be taken care of seemed stacked higher than ever as well. With a great sigh, I continued monitoring the combat training of our younger assassins. The haphazard banging of sticks was more than I could stand. This had to be by far the more annoying tasks that I had to see to. A pair of foolhardy children had begun using their wooden practice swords as a way to poke each other instead of practicing their fighting forms. Moving from my normal corner of observation, I coldly walked over to the erroneous boys. Because of my abrupt change of position, all of the young assassins gasped and stood at attention, save the boys I had to deal with. They continued giggling like blundering idiots, unaware that I was drawing near. As my ominous shadow fell onto the pair, they froze in fear. I looked down my nose imperiously at them and whispered,

"And just _what_ do you two think you are doing?"

The boys turned slowly to see me looming over them. The tears from previous laughter now pooled in his eyes in fear. This moment, yes this moment right now, was why I lived to teach.

"You're dead," I said quietly in almost a hissing whisper that seemed to hit them like a scream. The bravest boy of the two then stuttered out,

"W-what?" I internally smirked at the look on one of the boy's faces, as if he was about to wet himself.

"You're dead" I said again but this time with the solid confidence that only a teacher could muster. In fact, the words seemed to hang in the air while the boys were trying to figure out whether I truly was going to kill them or if they were just in trouble.

"You practice your sword drills so that when it matters your muscles react without thinking. By forfeiting your concentration, you have now left yourself open to attack. Your enemies will not hesitate, so; you see…" I took a deep breath at this and enunciated every syllable.

"You. Are. Dead." I remained quietly standing over the two for another moment, letting that sink in. I then turned away from them abruptly. I heard one of the boys gasp at the change and the other fell on his backside. With my back facing the rest of the class in silence, I stated simply,

"This lesson is now over. You are to return to your quarters until your next lesson…" the class let out a seemingly collective sigh as they thought they were finally out of the range of fire.

"However, I hope that you have all memorized the forms taught today as there will be a demonstration of them demanded from each of you in tomorrow's lesson." I turned to face the class, awaiting the answer demanded of them. As one, they all said,

"Yes, sir." I nodded then and dismissed them. The two boys from before were the last to leave and one of them seemed to be waddling. Apparently he had indeed wet himself.

Smirking, I quickly tidied up the practice area and left for my meeting with the Grandmaster. I was looking forward to finally talking to a competent adult. I had a lot of respect for my friend, but I was still aggravated that he asked me to teach the inept youth of our order.

I was passing by one of the hallways on my way to the Grandmaster's office when I saw a shadow flit quickly from one side to the other out of the corner of my eye. My curiosity piqued, I strode down the corridor to see what was happening. Out of all the rooms in the hall, only one was slightly ajar. I leaned against the wall so no one could see me easily and tried to get a look at what was taking place in the shady room.

I couldn't see very much because of how dark the room was. This immediately struck me as suspicious because it was barely past midday. The room should be flooded with light, but the windows were obviously not doing their job. Finally, I was able to hear a bit of what was going on in there. I could barely make out a low raspy voice saying,

"…darkness is growing. You must be prepared when the time comes to do what must be done."

My eyes widened in shock. Whoever was in this room had information about the order's enemies. Whoever was in this room might even _be_ our enemy. I slowly drew my dagger from my robes in anticipation. I then heard a stronger voice respond in the shadows.

"Of course I will be. You can tell our Lord that despite the setbacks, nothing has changed."

I could hear a tinge of amusement in the raspy voice's response.

"Indeed, little Lord? I hope you are right, or else the world is forfeited to the Night."

This was getting to be too much to just simply listen to. I knew that it was foolish to rush into anything blindly, but the Order was in jeopardy. I readied myself to open the door to confront the shadows inside, but was interrupted by a loud sound like a large group of birds departing. Quickly concluding that whoever was inside was leaving, I tried to enter the room to stop them. However, I had to stop my advance as there was suddenly a blinding light coming from the room. After my eyes adjusted, I realized that it was just the unexpected entry of sunlight through the windows. The sun revealed an empty normal training room.

Sighing, I turned to leave when I heard distant footsteps down the hall. Hastily, I strode toward the sound only to find our newest recruit, Sebastian, walking toward the dining room. Could he have been one of the shadowy figures in the secret meeting? I had been wary of the young man all week. He just struck me as untrustworthy and it annoyed me to no end how quickly the Grandmaster had taken to him. My suspicions aside, I knew it would be unwise to hastily judge the young assassin. I would just continue to keep a close watch on the boy, Sebastian. After all, the fate of the order rested in his hands should the Grandmaster be unable to fulfill his duty.

Sebastian's POV

I really should be excited. Or I should at least be pretending to be excited. A party happening later, dancing, socializing, eating, blah blah blah. But after that unpleasant news from one of my father's servants, I just couldn't find it in me to even feign anticipation. Unforeseen movement from the goddess of night could do that to a person. The possibility of her rising and covering the world with unending darkness should be appealing to me, seeing as I despise the sun. However, I understood that some things that move in the shadows should stay there.

The meeting with the shadow messenger had gone better than expected. We had met in an empty training room that was unlikely to be spied in on. After the meeting, I had shadow travelled out of the room into a dark part of the hallway closer to the dining room. I had then entered the grand room to see how the preparations were going.

As trims and trappings of a celebration were being put up, I tried my best to put the whole business in the back of my mind… to no avail. Nothing could shake this feeling of trouble just waiting on the horizon. Not even an adorable Genny trying to get my attention.

"Sebby, Sebby look!" she said pointing at one of the shiny table centerpieces. I sighed and tried my best to perk up. I told myself it was just for general appearances and not for little Genevieve's sake.

"Yes, little princess it is a shining star sitting at the table." She then giggled and said,

"No silly! It is to honor our fallen friends. Its made from their sword thingies!" As I took a closer look at the elaborate center piece on the main table, it did indeed look as if it was made from scrap pieces of metal, including sword tips.

"Hm. I guess you are right, princess." Genny continued to comment on different parts of the ballroom that was under preparation, but I stopped listening once I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see what it was and was only moderately surprised when I saw Fabien Rousseau scrutinizing me by the door way. Over the past week, he had tried his best to watch my every move and it was starting to get stifling. However, I couldn't really do anything about it without raising suspicion. Normally he would just simply observe me with his cold demeanor, but this time, his scowl was deeper than usual. Before I had time to wonder what had caused the change, someone grabbed my arm.

Instinct took over as I grabbed the person's wrist, wrenched it to the side and prepared to strike my opponent's now exposed defense. I hesitated as I noticed who my supposed "opponent" was. Vivienne's flaming red hair framed a steely glare from her turquoise eyes. I had barely enough time to think, " _Merde,"_ before she grabbed a specific point on my own wrist, causing a distinct flare of pain. Before I could even think of reacting, she then snapped her hand to my chest shortly followed by swiping my ankles in the opposite direction causing me to fall flat on my back.

Luckily the only thing injured was my pride, and it was more than slightly bruised. I tried to look apologetic for my rashness, but she just scoffed and extended a hand to help me up. At first, I thought she was still mad at me, but then I saw a smile playing at the corner of her mouth and knew she was just messing with me.

Vivienne walked away from me, toward a pair of chairs yet to be placed at a table. I joined her there, sitting in silence, waiting until she decided to talk about why she approached me in the first place. After a few moments she took a deep breath and said,

"Why are you here?" Well… that was unexpected. I sat there looking dumbly at her for a moment until I finally said,

"Well, I guess I'm here watching the preparations for the-" Vivienne sighed in irritation and interrupted me.

"No, I mean why are you here with us? This past week you've seen how we do things and why we do them. While we usually have a reason, make no mistake, we kill people."

She stated this so bluntly I had to resist the urge to wince. How could I respond to that? After debating a few ideas, I decided to simply say,

"…I understand that." Vivienne rolled her eyes in response and angrily asked,

"Yes, but why would you want that? Why would you voluntarily seek us out? It's not like you were born into this- this cycle of killing and dying." By the end of her outburst, I noticed that her voice had tightened with emotion. I turned and noticed that her hands were gripping the edge of her cloak so tightly that her knuckles were white. Unsure what to do, I placed my hand on her shoulder in a comforting way. I awkwardly kept it there until Vivienne let out a sigh and her tension lessened slightly. She then took my hand, squeezed it briefly, and set it back on my lap where it belonged. I hoped that my uncomfortable gesture of sympathy had helped and knew that it had when her eyes met mine and she smiled slightly. We sat in companionable silence for a little longer, gazing at the preparations, until she suddenly asked,

"Have you ever wanted to be normal?" Once again, I didn't know how to respond to this. What was normal? I was raised among fire and ash, fighting for my life. This was normal for me. Because of my lack of response, she continued.

"You know, sometimes I see normal girls. They wear huge pointless dresses and talk about fashion and boys and…" she then trailed off wistfully. Regardless of gender, that all sounded horribly dull to me.

"Why would you want to be like that?" I asked in confusion. Vivienne spluttered for a second and said sarcastically,

"Oh I don't know! Maybe so I wouldn't have to learn and do such abnormal things! I mean, what lady knows how to knock out a man with just her ring finger? Does a lady know the exact amount of poison is needed to make a man paralyzed but not yet dead? Can just anyone shoot a bow and arrow at a target from three hundred paces?"

"…I suppose not." I wasn't exactly sure what she was getting at. All those sounded like pretty reasonable things to know to me. I began to try to understand the appeal of 'normality' to Vivienne. I knew from my brief travels on the surface world that the vast majority of common folk were… boring. Just living, breeding, and dying with no real purpose and never doing anything of great significance. I continued to sit there for a few moments trying my best to understand why she would want to be normal. I guessed it came down to one question that I decided to ask her.

"If you were normal, would you be happy?" Vivienne seemed at a loss for words for a moment.

"Well, I wouldn't have to worry about all the things I have to now. I would be blissfully unaware of all the monsters and horrible gods out there. It would just be… me." As she continued speaking she got quiet again. Her statement was all I needed.

"That doesn't seem very happy to me." She ducked her head down at that. When she didn't say anything, I decided to continue.

"The way I figure it, we all live and we all die. That is something we all have in common. But it's what we do with the little time that we have that makes us who we are… and what we leave behind. I don't know about you, but I am going to use all the time I have to make my mark on the world. The supposed 'normal' people will never get that chance." Vivienne looked up at me at that. Now I knew I had her attention.

"Vivienne, you're not normal and you never will be. That's not a bad thing. In a world of pebbles, we are like diamonds. So stop wishing you were someone else and be you."

Having said what I needed to, I looked at Vivienne to see her reaction. She had a slight smile on her face and a hard to distinguish emotion. It almost looked like… admiration? I turned away and shook my head slightly, that was highly unlikely. I was surprised when she chuckled a bit.

"You know, that may be the most I have heard you speak." I had to smile at that.

"Perhaps it was. In case you haven't noticed, I don't like to talk a lot." She snickered in response.

"Well, I had better start getting ready for the festivities." Vivienne then stood up and I with her out of politeness. She turned away from me and started walking away. I too began to turn away when I heard her say,

"Thanks for the conversation, Sebastian. You know, you really should talk more. I never realized you had so much to say." I laughed at her teasing and waved her away.

"Any time."

Well that had been an unanticipated and interesting conversation. Between that and the news from my father's shadow servant, I doubted the day could get any more eventful. Then I remembered the festival tonight. Hopefully, nothing bad would happen, but with my luck I highly doubted it.

 _Gabriel's POV_

 _Later that night_

Oh, how I loved the mansion during festival times. We only had parties a few times a year but each time was such a treat. The kitchens were bustling with the best food, the many candles glinted like stars, and the dancing ladies in their large gowns flitted about like butterflies.

I had trained since a young boy in combat, archery, and… dancing. To the surprise of others in the order, I actually loved to dance. I couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't enjoy it. It was like hand to hand combat, you had to be light on your feet and purposeful in your movements. However, unlike fighting, you had a beautiful lady at your side. Could it get any better?

My most frequent dance partner had to be Cherry, who was so energetic that most refused to dance with her as she wore them out. I enjoyed dancing with her for the energetic songs, any random young lady for the average paced songs, and one special lady for my favorite song. Vivienne didn't really like dancing so I only invited her to dance a few times and those were very treasured memories.

The guests were finally beginning to arrive and I stood in the ballroom in anticipation. Each guest was announced in the grand entry way and then went into the ballroom so I was able to see each person come in. Unlike normal balls in France, every guest was either an assassin or spouse of an assassin. Also unlike other French celebrations, we dressed a little more… practically. No assassin would be caught dead in a cumbersome wig or an obscenely large ball gown. The men wore dressier versions of their usual assassin robes and the women still had skirts, but functioned more to hide weapons.

After some time, the ballroom was finally full enough for the musicians to start playing. My friends had yet to come down from their rooms and I waited for them anxiously. It was Sebastian's first ball and I was excited to see how he would react. Cherry and Pascal were the first to descend the stair case. They had their arms intertwined as usual. Cherry had decided to wear a bright blue dress with as many ruffles and ribbons as possible. Pascal had a midnight blue assassin robe with a bright blue flower tucked into the front pocket. I suspected that he and Cherry had exchanged matching flowers as she had a bracelet with the same flower on it. I chuckled at the unlikely couple and went over to greet them.

"Why Cherry, you look wonderful this evening!" She then giggled girlishly and stuck out her hand. I took it and gave it a slight kiss. This was a part of the little ritual that we did every ball. Cherry and I were good friends and enjoyed messing with each other. Neither of us meant anything by the flirting, and everyone else knew it. Regardless, it was still sweet to see Pascal lean a bit closer to Cherry in response. They really did like each other and I was very happy for them.

We continued talking amicably until I saw one of my other friends stop at the top of the staircase. In stark contrast to his usual black attire, Sebastian was wearing an ashy gray robe with a blood red cravat to accent the outfit. With his longer than normal coattails billowing behind him and his sword glistening at his side, he looked more like royalty than an assassin. The illusion was ruined, however, when he shifted uncomfortably and adjusted his stiff cravat. I had to smile at my friend. No matter how hard he tried to appear otherwise, he was still a young man in an uncomfortable suit just like the rest of us.

"Hey, 'Bastian! How's it going?" I was expecting Sebastian to scowl at my use of his unwanted nickname, but instead he smirked at me. Clearly he had figured out I was just doing that to annoy him. I would have to come up with a new method to mess with him soon.

"I'm doing well, thank you, Gabe." He said this somewhat distractedly. He continued looking around suspiciously. He seemed even more wary than usual, which didn't seem possible. Something must have caught his attention because he walked away toward the ballroom without preamble. I shrugged at the behavior that would have been strange for anyone else.

I was going to turn to Cherry to ask for a dance when Estelle came up to me. At first I wondered if I had missed her coming down the stairs, but then I remembered that she really didn't like drawing attention to herself, so she must have taken a different route to get here. She was wearing an understated, yet effortlessly elegant gray dress that billowed out from her like smoke. I smiled at the dress as it encompassed her personality so well.

"Oh, Estelle, how lovely you look! I know of someone who will be very pleased with how stunning you are!" I said the last part with a wink and Estelle blushed lightly.

"Gabriel, I must say, I have no idea who you are referring to."

"Of course not. Either way, I think I saw him heading into the dining room." Estelle raised an eyebrow at that.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with me. Anyways, I will continue socializing… in the dining room," she said with a small smile. I inclined my head and wished her the best.

I was momentarily distracted as I saw a shadow dart toward the dining room out of the corner of my eye. I tried to turn my head to see what it could have been, but saw nothing. I shrugged it off as the flickering candles in the chandeliers playing tricks with me.

Pascal then came over by himself to talk. Pascal was one of my oldest friends since he and Cherry came to live at the mansion when we were all around seven years old. He had always been very close with Cherry and it was sweet for me to see their relationship possibly going to the next level.

We were both standing side by side watching Cherry energetically greet each guest by name. She had always had a knack for remembering everyone she ever met, something I was very jealous of.

"So, how have you and Cherry been?" I asked with genuine care and curiosity. Even though Pascal was turned away from me slightly, I still saw the smile light up his usually sleepy features.

"Very good, thank you. We have been training together more often these days. Her energetic spirit keeps me on my toes." His eyes took on a far away look as he spoke of the girl we were both watching socialize like a butterfly.

"When do you intend to start courting her?" I asked with a knowing smirk. At this, he turned toward me fully while I remained watching the growing crowd.

"What makes you think I will ask to court her?" I laughed in response.

"Of course you will! I've known you two most of my life and I can't imagine a happier couple." Pascal ducked his head down at that and then smiled.

"You really think she would accept my proposition?" I scoffed a little louder than I had intended causing Cherry to look up from her conversation. Her grin at me turned into a shining smile when she saw Pascal next to me.

"I have no doubt she will."

"Well, my friend I appreciate the confi-" I was confused when Pascal stopped mid-sentence. I then saw him turned away from me toward the staircase. After turning myself to see what was going on, my mind went blank at what I saw.

A beautiful woman had paused at the top of the stairs. Her pale gold dress shined like a star and her red hair was piled onto her hair in an intricate design. Wait, did I see red hair? That cannot be Vivienne! Not my blunt, sarcastic friend who didn't like dancing or fanfare of any kind! I personally had never met any of the gods or goddesses, but I was convinced that this beauty coming down the stairs had to be one. That was the only logical explanation.

Even though my mind was still reeling from Vivienne's lovely visage, I still managed to extend my hand to her as she descended the last few stairs. I couldn't help but take her hand and place a light kiss on it. I then looked up at her and saw her turquoise eyes shining at me.

"Well, anything to say, Gabe?" she asked in her usual blunt tone. My mouth made several attempts to make noise until finally I said,

"You look very very nice." Vivienne's eyes glinted with amusement at my loss for words.

"Yes, I know that but I was hoping you would ask me to dance." Deciding that words might not be the best way to go for a while, I simply responded my bowing slightly and leading her toward the ballroom.

The band had started playing music a while ago and a number of people had begun dancing to a fast minuet. However, as we entered, the musicians ended their song and the guests applauded their performance. A slower song was then started and people began to dance in the allemande style. It seemed that the gods were on my side tonight because this song was perfect for me and Vivienne.

Partners started in the center of the ballroom and we joined them before the steps began. Each couple held hands and slowly led each other across the floor in a slow turn before facing each other. Vivienne and I were very familiar with this dance and slowly turned in rhythm with the music. Her head was always regally high, but I had a hard time focusing or keeping my eyes off of her. Each step was slow and elegant with our hands rotating around constantly. It felt less like we were dancing and more like we were floating. I had never danced like this with Vivienne, but I was loving every minute of it.

The song was much too short for my liking and we bowed to each other at the end. Many more dances followed, each with partners that danced worst than I thought they had before. The dances all distractedly rolled into each other while I only noticed a few details other than Vivienne standing amongst the crowd. Pascal danced more than usual with Cherry, so I only danced with her once. Surprisingly, I saw Sebastian dancing with Estelle. They were quite the elegant couple to watch dance.

Finally, after what seemed an age, my father called us all into the dining room to enjoy the banquet. I was so excited to eat and sit next to Vivienne at the head table, that I barely noticed Sebastian quickly head past the dining room toward the kitchen. Before the meal was to be served, it was customary for the host to toast with wine. The servants began to pass out wine glasses to the adults. My friends and I were considered to young in the Order to drink so we could not take part. Once all the drinks had been given out, my father stood at the middle of the head table with wine glass in hand.

"I propose a toast! To the great goddess who brought us all here to protect those who cannot protect themselves. _Santé_!" The crowd then echoed with,

" _Santé!"_ A few eager assassins had already taken a deep drink of wine while a few had yet to raise their glass, my father among them. Suddenly, Sebastian appeared from the kitchen and yelled,

"STOP!" Most ceased drinking in shock, but my father still had the cup to his lips. Acting quicker than I thought possible, Sebastian grabbed one of the knives that made up the table center pieces and threw it at my father. The nearest assassins tackled my friend, but I watched in disbelief as the knife sailed toward my father's hand. Because of my horrified focus, I was able to see that the knife ricocheted off its intended target, my father's cup, into his shoulder. Everything seemed to slow down as my father staggered and fell to the ground. I ran over to his side and was shocked to see him convulsing slightly with his eyes rolled up into his sockets. A mere knife shouldn't be able to do this. I was in a numb state of disbelief. This shouldn't be happening. Some of our assassin healers leapt into action and carried my father away. I followed them for as long as I could, but stopped short when I heard Fabien Rousseau shouting.

Apparently a few other assassins had collapsed as well. I was finally able to see Sebastian, but wished I hadn't. He had a bruise on one eye and was being restrained by a few other assassins. Fabien was shouting over the chaos,

"We have the culprit! We all saw it with our own eyes! This newcomer poisoned the wine and wanted to finish the job by attacking our Grandmaster!" The assassins who weren't helping those who collapsed and weren't in shock shouted their agreement. Some of them were shouting things like,

"Kill him!" "Throw him in the dungeons!" and I even heard one yell, "Put him through the guillotine!"

Fabien tried to calm them down and said,

"As the Grandmaster's lieutenant, I will be in temporary command of the Order. As commander, I sentence this traitor to the gallows first thing in the morning. For now, he will be held in the dungeons." The other assassins yelled their approval.

I tried to speak up in defense of my friend, but was drowned out in the chaos. All I was able to do was helplessly watch my friend dragged down into the dungeons. With my father near death and my friend sentenced to death, what was I going to do?


End file.
